Much Ado About Nothing

We are having a great time in London! We are sleeping well. On Tuesday we were still a little weary, but by Wednesday we were pretty much over our jet lag. The weather has been much cooler than it has been in Nashville. We've had a little bit of rain, but it hasn't messed up any of our plans. Mostly it's happened while we've been indoors.

On Wednesday, August 17, 2022, our highlights were visiting Churchill's War Room and Westminster Abbey, and watching the play "Much Ado About Nothing" at the National Theatre. We ate all of our meals at the hotel this day.

We arrived early and were happily first in line to enter Churchill's War Room, which is located below ground in this building:

This was basically a bunker that Winston Churchill used as his command center during World War II. It was a dingy basement that many people worked and slept in as they supported him. There is a tour of the rooms and a Churchill museum there. Brock felt claustrophobic and so we cut our visit a little short.

Within walking distance of this was Westminster Abbey. Along the way we passed the Supreme Court, which seems a little more accessible than ours:

There was also some interesting architecture spotted along the way:

London has a multitude of beautiful gates:

When we arrived at Westminster Abbey, we had to join a long queue to get in, so we busied ourselves taking photos of the outside. We were close to Big Ben and the London Eye!

Brock spotted some interesting gargoyles:

There was even a sundial!

Details of Westminster Abbey from the outside:

Inside, it was extremely crowded. People were stepping on Charles Darwin's grave (and also everyone else's):

This is the tomb of King Edward III who died in 1377! (What were YOU doing in 1377?):

This is the most ornate tomb of Captain Edward Cooke:

This is where Coronations take place. There may be another one here in 5 years or less (Queen Elizabeth is 96). (NOTE: Little did I know, but the Queen would pass away on September 8, 2022):

This is where the choir performed as Kate walked by in her wedding to Prince William:

There are remarkable stained glass windows in Westminster Abbey:

I was taken by this weeping cherub:

Of course there is much honor given to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. No one is allowed to step on this grave:

Once outside again, Brock found another interesting building to photograph:

We have been using cabs to travel back and forth, for the most part. (We did use the "Underground" to return to the hotel from Harrod's yesterday. The train was extremely crowded.) We grabbed a cab to return to the hotel for our lunch.

Then we made our way to the National Theatre for a performance of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". Just as we arrived, it began raining.

Here is what the lobby of the theatre looks like:

I think this is the best play that I have seen in London! They did an excellent job of bringing this play to life in a more contemporary way. The acting was great, there was lots of humor injected, the sets were sumptuous, costuming was elaborate, it was all extremely well done and very entertaining!

After the play was over, we had to walk to get another taxi. It was raining pretty hard, and my feet got totally soaked! Hopefully my shoes will dry out overnight!

We had a late dinner and didn't get to bed until about 11:00 p.m.

Another incredible day in London!